After All This Time
by bethchilds34
Summary: What would happen if Tony got re-assigned? What would that do to Team Gibbs? How would things go after that? Better than it sounds. Give it a try! Rated T cause I can, sorry. R&R please! Eventually Tiva!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey, guys! You must all think I'm crazy by now, but I really don't care. Yes, it's another Tiva fic. I know, I know. But that's me, so don't blame me for who I am. So, I just randomly got the idea for this fic while on a different website and the name isn't even NCIS related, but that really doesn't bother me one bit.**

**You know how in all the fics, everybody wonders what would happen if Ziva just disappeared from NCIS and wasn't hear from again for years? I'm gonna switch it up and ask, what would happen if Tony left? What would that do to all others involved?**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, after all this time, I still do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it. Thank you, DPB; we owe all of this to you.**

"DiNozzo; my office; now," Director Vance said when I picked up my desk phone and said hello.

He hung up after that and I put the phone down, a confused look on my face. The director usually called Gibbs when he wanted to say something about one of us, so I figured it was personal. But considering the director and I don't have a personal relationship (in any way), the call didn't make any sense.

"Gibbs, the Director wants to see me," I said, standing up.

"Go," he said, saying everything in his look at me that his words didn't say. He didn't know why the director had called me up either.

I didn't look at Ziva or McGee on my way upstairs. I knew exactly what looks they would have on their faces. Ziva would look confused; her eyebrows furrowed, a frown on her face, her eyes scrunching up. McGeek would have his mouth open slightly, his eyes opening wider, the rest of his face slack. I know them both so well. I didn't even have to look at Gibbs when I told him the director wanted to see me because his face, I knew, would be as impassive as ever.

When I got upstairs, I walked across the catwalk to the director's office, passing the secretary who told me to go right into his office. I opened the metal door and closed it behind me, leaving the two of us alone in his office.

"Agent DiNozzo," the director said, standing up when he saw me.

"Director," I said with no emotion in my voice. I hadn't forgiven him for anything he'd done while here, good or bad. He didn't live his life in my good books, but you couldn't trash the director of the agency where you worked if you wanted to keep your job, so I kept my mouth shut about him. "You called?"

"Yes. I've been reviewing your file again. Director Sheppard offered you a position in Spain a few years ago and you declined. I assigned you to Agent Afloat last year, but you came home. Why is that? You could have your own team, yet you stay on Gibbs," he said, taking a seat at the table and gesturing to me to do the same.

I sat down stiffly across from him, expecting the worst. "I like it on Agent Gibbs' team. I'm happy here in DC. I've never considered leaving, even for a second," I said. "It's not something I'm really interested in."

"I have a position for you. A team lost its leader yesterday. They're all young; the oldest has only been out of FLETC for eight months. The leader liked taking on new recruits. They need a new team leader. Do you see where I'm going with this?" he asked me.

Sadly, I did. "Yes, sir," I said.

"Good. So you accept?" he asked.

"Do I have a choice?" I asked, knowing the answer again.

"Good, pack you bags, you fly out tomorrow night," he said, standing up and walking over to his desk and grabbed some folders.

"Where am I going?" I asked him.

"Our base in Italy; I suggest you brush up on your Italian." He handed me three folders and dismissed me from his office.

**A/N: I know, I hate Vance too. So, what did you think? I actually really enjoyed writing this, even though it wasn't easy at all because I have a brace on my wrist, so it slows down my typing considerably. This was short, I know, but I'm hoping future chapters will be longer!**

**To those of you who were expecting an Alessandra DiNozzo update who are reading this, I couldn't get inspired to write it this weekend. Sorry! I will update that later this week!**

**If I get at least 5 reviews, I'll update with another chapter this week!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here I am! Back again! Okay, so to start, to all of you who aren't going to read this because it's a Tiva fic, why did you click on it in the first place and review saying you wouldn't read anymore just because of that? I labeled it clearly enough, so this isn't my fault. It's not quite Tiva yet, but in my head, it will be.**

**Okay, so I know I said I'd update last week, but you have no idea how busy I was. Life is crazy right now, but hopefully it's looking up now. Please review guys! Do you think I could get 8 reviews before I update with the next chapter? I don't think that's too much to ask, do you? Didn't think so. So please drop a review, even if it's just one word!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it. I only own this plot. It's all mine.**

I walked back downstairs, holding the files and wondering how I was going to tell everyone. We've already learned that when our team is split, nothing good comes of it. The last time that happened, we ended up out in the middle of the desert in Africa. I cursed Vance over and over in my head. He shouldn't be able to have the power to do this.

When I got back down to the squad room, Gibbs, McGee, and Ziva were all looking at me intently, waiting to hear what the director had told me. But I didn't say anything, I just sat down at my desk and started working on a report that I'd abandoned a few minutes ago.

"What did the director want?" Gibbs asked, speaking first.

"Told me to pack my bags," I said, not looking up from the computer. I couldn't look at their faces.

"Wait, you got fired? Jeeze, what'd you do?" McGee asked, sounding shocked.

"I didn't get fired. Far from it. I got my own team," I said, finally looking up at them all. "Don't look so shocked, guys. I'm competent enough. You all know that."

"You are leaving?" Ziva asked.

"No choice," I said, looking at her. She looked saddened by the news. I figured it was because they'd have to break in a new agent.

"Vance didn't even give you a choice?" Gibbs asked me.

"Not exactly. He told me to brush up on my Italian and handed me three folders," I told him.

"You're going to Italy?" McGee asked incredulously.

"I'm Italian. I'll fit right in."

"Wow, Tony, that is exciting," Ziva said.

"When are you leaving, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"Tomorrow night," I said.

"Alright. The three of you are cut loose for the day. I'll see you tomorrow," Gibbs said.

I was shocked; it was only ten in the morning now. But who was I to second-guess the boss? I grabbed my backpack and saw Ziva and McGee do the same. The three of us met by the elevator and all got in together. Gibbs was still at his desk.

Ziva and McGee got out of the elevator, but I stayed on. Someone had to tell Abby, and if it wasn't me, she'd be crushed. I didn't really know how to break it to her; she was like my little sister.

When I got to the floor her lab was on, I took a deep breath before leaving the elevator. I heard her loud music the second the doors opened; it came blasting like a wall of sound at me.

I walked into the open door of the lab and saw Abby at her computer in the second room. She looked up, saw me, and smiled while reaching for a remote that turned the music down to background noise.

"Hey, Tony!" she said, coming over to me and throwing her arms around my neck. "What's with the bag? I didn't know you guys had a case today!"

"We don't. The Boss-man let us out early," I told her.

"It's ten o'clock in the morning. What happened?" she asked, her face losing its smile quickly.

"Sit down, Abby," I told her. She retreated the few steps back to the chair she'd just vacated. "I got a call from Vance about ten minutes ago. He wants me to be a team leader for another team," I said, beating around the bush but still giving her something.

"What other team? I didn't know we needed a team leader for another team here. I would have known if someone died. What's going on, Tony?" she asked in a very quick succession the way only Abby can.

"The team's in Italy," I told her.

She gasped; bring her hands up to cover her mouth, her eyes instantly filling with tears. Then she was attached to me, her arms clamped behind my neck. "No! Tony, Vance can't do this again! The last time we lost one of you, you, Gibbs, and McGee ended up in Somalia in the desert trying to avenge Ziva's supposed death! Oh my God!"

"I know, Abby. But he didn't give me a choice. I'm so sorry," I said, hugging her back, trying not to think about how much I'd miss her hugs, or her lab, or the music I'd never really liked but she had and that was enough for me to tolerate it.

"When are you leaving?" she asked.

"Tomorrow night. How about we go out to lunch tomorrow? Just you and me?" I asked her.

"It sounds like a last supper to me, but yes! And I'm buying. Anywhere you want to go."

She let go of me for a second, then threw her arms back around me again. I didn't complain. It was so Abby and I'd miss her and she'd miss me.

I left her lab ten minutes later and drove home, thinking about what I was going to bring with me and where I was going to live. How hard could finding an apartment be? I decided to look for one when I got upstairs, but all thoughts of that vanished when I saw a familiar car parked in my spot in front of my building.

But it didn't really surprise me that she was here. I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that I'd be seeing her sometime today. I parked in a different spot, grabbed my bag, and got out of the car.

I walked up the flight to my apartment, not surprised even now when I saw my door open slightly. Ziva didn't have a key, but she could pick a lock blindfolded with a hand tied behind her back.

I pushed open the door and closed it behind me with a little more force than was necessary, letting her know that someone else was here. She walked out of my living room, hand on her gun and smiled shyly when she saw me standing there.

"Hi," I said. "Thinking of buying a new apartment? I can give you a tour if you want."

"I needed company," she confessed, "and I thought maybe you would as well."

"Company would be appreciated, but only if they agreed to help box some things," I said, smiling at her.

"I would be happy to help," Ziva said.

For the next two hours, Ziva and I started boxing things that I was going to bring with me. I was bringing most of my clothes, some kitchen stuff, bathroom things, and only one box of movies. The rest of my movies and everything else that wasn't furniture was going into the spare room at Ziva's house. As for the furniture, it was going into storage in a box that was now paid off for a year and I could pay for it as long as I needed. I didn't trust my large collection of movies and other personal things going in there. I trusted Ziva a lot more than that place, but she couldn't take everything.

We stopped for lunch around twelve thirty when the pizza arrived at the door. I gave the kid a twenty and told him to keep the eight dollars in change and brought it into the living room where Ziva was collapsed on the couch. I put the box down on the coffee table and then crashed down next to her. She bounced a little and that slid her closer to me on the couch and she laughed at me.

We each grabbed a slice of the pepperoni pizza and then sat back on the couch, not using plates. It was quiet for a little while, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

Ziva spoke after a few minutes, breaking the silence. "So, what part of Italy are you going to?" she asked.

"Rome. I didn't even know we had a base there, to be honest," I told her.

"I have been to Rome. It's beautiful," Ziva said.

"I've seen pictures, but I've never been," I said.

"You will like it," she assured me.

"Not as much as I normally would, if I wasn't going to work there. I won't know anybody and I won't be working as many cases and I won't be here, with you, McGee, Gibbs, Abby, and Ducky. It won't be the same," I said. I turned my head to look at her. Though the whole conversation so far, I'd been studying the slice of pizza in my hand, she looked sad and her eyes were darker today than they usually were. "Are you okay?" I asked her, turning my body on the couch so that I could face her completely.

"I am fine, Tony," she said, turning her body to mirror mine.

"Then why do you look like you just ran over a puppy with your speed demon car?" I asked, smiling a little.

"I have never hit a living thing. I may have caused a bumper-bender or two but…" she said, trailing off.

"First of all, it's a 'fender-bender'. And secondly, I wasn't accusing you of hitting anything, it's an expression. You're my partner, I know when something's wrong, wrong, so just tell me, please," I said.

"That is just it. You are my partner, you are supposed to be dispensable," she said and I started to protest, but she cut me off, "but you are not. You mean more to me than that. You are my best friend."

I didn't know how to respond to that. It was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to me. I studied her face, memorizing it again, the widow's peak in the middle of her forehead, big brown eyes that crinkled up when she smiled her real smile, her small nose, thin lips, wavy brown hair that framed her beautiful face. I was going to miss her more than she knew.

"Strange as it is to say it, you're my best friend, too. And you've never been dispensable to me," I told her.

She gave me a smile then moved to get another slice of pizza. She grabbed two and handed one to me. Only then did I realize that I'd finished the piece I'd had in my hand before. "Thanks. So, what are you guys going to do without me?" I asked, not all joking.

"Gibbs will have to train a new probationary agent," she said. "And McGee will be Senior Field Agent."

"Kid's growing up. And you won't be a probette anymore. You happy about that?" I asked. She hit me on the arm.

"I was never a probie, and especially not at NCIS. I have been in this game longer than you have," she told me.

"Really? And how long would that be?" I asked.

"I have been… involved… with the Mossad since I was fifteen," she said.

"Jeeze, that would have made me nineteen," I said, not imagining how she'd done it.

"Yes, I was young, but never stupid. _That_ is how I am here today," she said.

Looking at her, sitting there on my couch on my last day in America, I had a weak moment. "I'm really gonna miss you, Zee," I told her.

"I will miss you as well, Tony," she said, looking me directly in the eye.

It was quiet for another minute while we studied each other's eyes. I broke it. "Let's get back to work, okay? I'm getting deported tomorrow." I smiled at her and she smiled back, but neither of our smiles really met our eyes.

**A/N: So, what did you think? Worthy of a review? Please drop one, guys! I want 8 before I update this again! Thanks! Just please tell me what you think of this or anything you'd like to see or something like that. Talk to me people! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: hi guys! Okay, I know I've been gone for a while. Let's just say that a lot has been going on in my life and I haven't had a lot of time to breathe, let alone write. I missed it a lot, though, and I wanted to sit down one day and just type until I couldn't feel my fingers, but that whole not-having-time thing is a killer. I started wring this before I even started A Family Divided chapter 6, so it's clearly been a while. I thought I'd lost my muse for this, and then yesterday I finished writing it, which surprised me. But here it is. It's pretty short, but it's basically the only thing I've written in two months that isn't completely bad. Please review! Thanks guys!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters; they belong to our fandom's God: Donald P. Bellisario. I do, however, own this plotline. And I think (for now anyway) that I'm sticking with it for a while.**

O.o

Thank God I had Ziva to help me or I never would have been able to get everything done that I needed to do before leaving. I had all of my boxes packed, my furniture ready to be moved, and I was tying up all of my loose ends.

Ziva and I collapsed on the couch at nine with my laptop open on my lap in front of us. We were going apartment-hunting in cities around Rome. I figured I could stay in a hotel for at least a week until I found a place. Ziva was going to send my stuff once I found an apartment; we'd planned everything out in the hours that had passed since lunch and then dinner, for which we had cold pizza and Chinese food from my fridge.

I was scrolling down the page when Ziva pointed one out. "Click on that one," she said and I complied. It was about half an hour outside Rome and there was a train stop close by that would bring me right into the city. The best part was the price. It was cheap enough for me to afford.

"Good eye," I said to Ziva, smiling at her.

"Thank you, Tony," she said.

I looked back at the screen and feigned horror. "Oh no, but Ziva, it's only a one-bedroom! You'll be stuck on the couch when you come to visit me!"

She laughed at me. "Who said anything about me coming to visit you?" she asked jokingly.

"I did. I'll know the city in a few months and I'll sneak you into a few places when you come to visit me over Christmas. It'll be great!" I told her.

"Oh, so now you assume that I am going to come over Christmas? You have a very good imagination," she said, smiling like she was really thinking about it.

"I know I do, Zee-vah. But seriously, come for Christmas. You always spend the holidays by yourself anyway," I said.

"I will think about it," she told me.

"I'm gonna hold you to that."

She smiled and curled her feet under her while I typed out an email to the woman advertising the apartment. I silently thanked God that she spoke English and hoped that the place was still available. It seemed like a pretty decent place and it was in a great location.

When I finished, Ziva asked me, "Do you want to watch a movie? We did not pack all of them yet."

"It's your turn to pick," I said. We switched off turns, making it fair.

She got up and walked over to the shelf that used to be piled high with DVDs, but now only held a few that didn't fit in the box with the others. Turning so her back was to me, she grabbed one and put it in the DVD player. Then she grabbed the remotes from the top of the TV and came back to the couch and sat down next to me. A littler closer than she had been before.

"What did you pick?" I asked her.

"A favorite of mine," she answered.

"Ziva, it's my last night in America and you're making me watch The Sound of Music?" I started to complain. Only Ziva could be that sneaky.

"It is not The Sound of Music, though I do not understand how you do not like it," she told me.

"I'm not a big fan of musicals in general," I said as the title screen came up. "_This_ is a favorite of yours?" I asked incredulously as she hit play and the movie began.

"What is wrong with The Notebook? It is not a musical and Nicholas Sparks is an amazing writer," she defended.

"It just surprises me that The Notebook is a favorite movie of an ex-assassin ninja chick," I said, smiling at her.

"I have never once met a woman who does not, no matter how deep down she hides it, like this movie. Being ex-Mossad means nothing," she told me. "Now be quiet. It is starting."

Through the course of the movie, I paid more attention to Ziva than I did to Noah and Allie.

O.o

**A/N: So, what do you think? Worthy of any review, long or short? Some feedback would be really appreciated! I know I'm not on top of everything right now, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things!**


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